The Rise of Cynder
by Scarlet Embers
Summary: Cynder was just a normal Ice Dragon...until she was captured by Malefor. Follow Cynder as she tells of her life. Rated for hatchling-abuse...blood...death...Set before ANB.
1. Hatching

**Hello!**

**OK, I've just had an idea (well, I have lots of ideas, but I just seem to lose the will to write them…) – and it's about Cynder. To me, The Legend of Spyro: **_**Dawn of the Dragon**_** failed epically because they made Cynder's scales dark-blue instead of grey-black. But what if that had some importance? What if Cynder was actually a blue dragon before she was corrupted?**

**In this story, **_**The Rise of Cynder, **_**it tells in detail of Cynder's early life – told in the point of view of Cynder herself and starting from even when she was just an egg.**

**It might be a bit boring at first because Cynder's in her egg, but it will most likely get better. Please enjoy!**

Chapter 1

Silence.

Then screeches.

I curled up as tight as I could, my wings covering my face and ears and my tail wrapped protectively around me. The screeching – whatever it was – was scary, and I wanted to curl up safe inside my egg forever…or until it stopped, at least. But I couldn't, as I was roughly grabbed by something. I bashed against the hard, closed-in walls surrounding me – my first feeling of pain. And I was snatched up so quickly and carelessly that a small crack appeared in the egg, allowing a warm, golden light to seep through. It was my first light.

My senses flooded with so many different things – too many for me to guess or remember. The first thing I smelt was something yucky – I almost gagged at the stench – and it seemed to be coming from whatever was holding me. But beneath that, still, was a smell that was a little like my own…and with it came a crisp sort of smell that smelt a bit like the light that was filtering through the cracked wall. There was another smell, too – stronger than the scent that was like mine and the crispy smell, but weaker than the stench of the thing holding me. It was salty, and it was everywhere.

The other scents didn't smell like anything I knew until I left the place with the golden light. The light that shafted through the crack now was a silvery colour, and it made my tail-tip and wing-talons shine. And the smell had changed, too – instead of the warm, thick smell, I was hit by something thin and sharp. The smell was a bit like my own also, and it reminded me of a faint smell that I could detect in the golden-light-place. It made me curl up once more, and want to cover myself with my wings – but instead of wanting to cover my ears, I wanted to cover every scale on my body.

Another smell was quite strong – again, I had smelt something like it in the golden-light-place, and it seemed to be everywhere. I could scent it beneath me, over me, on my sides… And every time I was hit by something that blew into the crack in the wall, something that smelt a bit like the thin-sharp smell but with something else, I could hear a rustling and the scent grew stronger.

The last smell seemed to be mixed in with the blowing-stuff…and it was a little like the crisp-scent, but it seemed wilder somehow, uncontrollable. Like all the other scents, I could smell them in the golden-light-room.

I decided that I had had enough of smelling for now, and focused on hearing. I could hear voices, a lot like the screeches I had heard earlier, but they sounded fuzzy and distorted, and I could never quite make out what they were saying.

"…Master…"

"…Mountain…"

"…Egg…"

After a while of listening, I figured out that the one who was carrying me was called 'Gaul', the creatures that smelt disgusting were 'apes', and they were taking me to a place called 'Mountain' where somebody called 'Master' awaited. I wasn't sure what I was called, but they seemed to refer to me as the 'egg'.

That must be my name then – 'Egg'.

I began to get used to toppling around and banging against the walls. I stood on my hind legs, as high as the walls would let me, and peered out of the crack. Things seemed to form in front of me – some of the apes near the front and rear were carrying big sticks with something orange-coloured. It smelt crispy, and I knew that the scent I could smell was called 'fire'. Soon, we arrived at a place where a fortress stood. White things swirled around, and they smelt like the crisp, sharp scent I could smell. I knew that these things were called 'snow'. On the ground was something green, and beneath that something thick and brown, and I knew from the smell that this was called 'earth'. I could also smell the uncontrollable scent in the air, and it seemed to buzz around my head, crackling every time the cold stuff called 'wind' blew. I knew that it was called 'electricity'.

I liked the snow best.

But then a new scent loomed upon me. We were nearing something that smelt a bit like all of the scents – and beneath that, a scent deeper still. I didn't like this smell. It was dark and terrifying, and warned me to stay away. _Go back! _I screamed inside my head. _It's bad here – bad, bad, _bad! But the apes carried on, getting closer to the dark smell until they were surrounded in it, and now I could smell another scent that merged in with the dark one. It was dark yet tempting, and it seemed to draw you in, unlike the other smell that warned you to stay back. That must be why the apes are here, I thought. _They like the strong smell._ I called the bad smell 'darkness' and the tempting smell 'power'.

Gaul put me on something hard. It smelt a bit like 'earth', but it had a bit of 'darkness' in it too. Suddenly, the tempting scent of power changed to another smell. It seemed to be emitted by the apes! I could hear them bow down, and the other scent was raging now. It felt like some of them wanted to run away…and I can remember feeling it when I was awoken by the screeches. _'Fear'! _I named the new smell. The apes were afraid of this place! But if that was so, why did they come here in the first place?

I peeped out of the crack again – maybe I could see the answer. I saw that I was in a dark place made of something greyish, a bit like the earth…stone? Fire burned in beacons around me, but instead of the warm smell and the orange light, this fire seemed to smell like darkness and it was green. In the centre of the place, a purple beam of light seemed to stretch from the ground all the way up to the roof. It reeked of darkness.

Suddenly, I heard pawsteps. I turned to face the creature that was making this noise, but I smelt him before I saw him. He smelt strongly of both darkness _and _power. Now I knew why the apes were bowing down and emitting such a strong smell – they were _scared _of this creature!

I thought that he was an ape at first, but when my fuzzy vision came into focus I saw that he didn't look like an ape at all, though he smelt a bit like one. Still, he smelt even more like me than an ape, but it was hard to tell beneath all the darkness and power. His amber eyes seemed to stare through the walls and gaze right at me, and as he approached, I shrunk back, producing the same smell of fear as the apes.

He came right up to me and looked down on me before turning to address Gaul. "Egg...hatch…" His voice was even more distorted than the apes', and it seemed to rumble with power. I looked through the crack at him, wondering why he said my name when he was talking to Gaul.

Gaul replied, "Soon…Master…"

Now I understood! _This _creature was 'Master'! Though his scales were purple, and you could hardly detect his true scent beneath the darkness and power, he smelt like me, so I figured that we must be the same species. I decided to call creatures like us 'dragons'.

As he made his way towards me again, my curiosity vanished and was replaced by fear. However, instead of cowering again, I decided to escape. The scent of darkness was overwhelming – it was bad, bad, _bad! I need to get out of here! _I thought, desperately scraping at the cold walls with my claws.

To my displeasure, his amber eyes seemed to glint with interest when he heard me scrape. "Egg…hatching…" he growled. His voice only made my desperation worse. Now I used my tail-tip to try and scratch my way out of the egg, and then added my wing-talons as well. The walls seemed to be made of stone like the place I was in, but the stone was much, much thinner.

I had nearly got out! The crack in the wall seemed to be widening as I scratched at it, and the green firelight shafted through. _Just…a little…more…!_ I launched myself at where the crack was, my horns scratching the walls as I headbutted it. The egg cracked open, wide enough for me to clamber out. And I did so.

I was planning to run, but the transfixing amber gaze of the purple dragon kept me rigid on the stone platform. I gazed up at him, and for a heartbeat amber eyes met green ones.

And then the dragon raised his head, and when his voice rumbled again I realised that could understand it. "Welcome, Cynder."

**Short, I know, but it's only just the beginning, and there's not much you can describe when you're in an egg.**

**Right… See that little button beneath this writing? There's a little button that says in green writing 'Review this Story/Chapter'. PRESS IT. I need your ideas about what's going to happen to Cynder in the next chapter and that, so please, if you have any ideas, tell me!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~Scarlett**


	2. Pain

**Hey!**

**Thanks to all the people that reviewed! All of you awesome people get cookies! BUT! If I don't get - I don't know, 10 reviews? – then I might not continue this story. SO REVIEW!**

**This chapter tells about Cynder a few days after she was brought to the Mountain of Malefor. She's just a hatchling, though – be prepared for some cuteness! Yay!**

**And before I start, I would like to thank T-M-H-B-77 for the awesome idea that I used in this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Time passed – I knew this because every time the moon was full it meant that a lot of time had passed - and I got to know my surroundings better. Over the past few months, I learnt that I was called Cynder, not Egg, and that I was a hatchling whose element was ice, which is cold, hard stuff that's a bit like snow. They knew this because my scales were blue like ice, my underbelly and wings were purple like northern lights, my eyes were green like pools of water, my horns and claws were white like snow, my crest, tail-tip and wing-talons were silver like the mountaintops where snow forever lies – and all of these are the colours of the Ice dragon.

I knew the purple dragon was called by the apes the 'Dark Master' because he was their leader, and that you should fear him because he is the most powerful being in all the realms. Gaul told me this, and he told me also to listen to him and do what he says as well because he's the Dark Master's second-in-command. I just listen to Gaul and do what he says because he feeds me scraps of leftover meat so that I can grow big and strong.

I _am _getting strong – over the past few months, Gaul has led raids all over the realms with the apes and managed to capture three more eggs. Like me, the eggs hatched, and Gaul says that he took them because the Dark Master needs to train us and select the best dragon to become the Dark Master after him. There's a dragon of every element – Fyre is the only other female hatchling, and she's a red Fire dragon; Tornado is a yellow Electricity dragon, and Toxik is a green Earth dragon. I'm the strongest out of all of them, even Toxik. Well, nearly.

Even though I'm strong, I'm quite slender and fast, too. Tornado's the fastest, but I'm not far behind. Fyre is the best at element control – she can already breathe a few small flames. I'm definitely the smartest, though – I think that comes from hatching first. Gaul says that if I get smarter then I might have a chance of becoming the Dark Master's apprentice. I hope so. Even though I've only seen him a few times, he's really powerful, and I want to be powerful too.

We're not really competitive, though. We're all friends – it's like we're siblings. We usually play-fight, and Gaul says that that's good because we're practising our fighting skills. I even taught Toxik how to play fight!

Toxik had hatched last, and he blinked at me in confusion when I asked him whether he wanted to play fight – Fyre and Tornado had play-fought with me, after all. _"Play-fight," _I repeated slowly, looking at his dumbfounded expression. His brown eyes clouded with confusion. "Like this!" I squeaked, crouching down with my tail up before pouncing at him. He soon got the idea when I managed to bowl him over and pin him, and after a few kicks, swipes and tussles _he _managed to pin _me._

"I won!" he had squealed triumphantly, standing over me with his tail curled in pure delight.

We were play-fighting _now _– only this time it was all of us. Gaul had thrown to us a scrap of meat, and we were now fighting over who should get it. He looked on at us, his eyes gleaming with interest as he watched us tussle.

"You'll never catch it!" Tornado taunted, his paws skimming the grey stone floor as he ran. As he looked over his shoulder to see who was chasing him, I leapt at him from the shadows and bowled him over. He fell onto his side and dropped the meat. It skidded across the ground, and in a flash I was at it.

"Good, Cynder!" Gaul praised, his eyes glowing with pride. He then turned to Toxik, who was trying desperately to catch me and take the meat. "Now, Toxik, you can't use the same move to get the meat off of Cynder because she's already used it and will know how to dodge her own attack. You are heavier than her, so what are you going to do?"

"Trap her!" Toxik yowled, and instead of hitting my flank like I had done with Tornado he leapt on top of me, crushing me under his weight. I had to let the meat go to breathe, and as I did, he snatched it off of me.

"Good!" Gaul growled, before twisting his head to watch Fyre. "Now, Toxik has the meat, but it'd be hard to win against him with a physical move because he's an Earth dragon. So, what will you need to do to get the meat?"

"I'll need to use my Fire breath!" Fyre declared, before breathing a few flickers at Toxik's paws. He howled, dropping the meat as he did so, and automatically took a few steps back so that he was not in the reach of the flames.

"Unfair!" he protested, watching in dismay as the red dragoness stole the meat. "Fyre's the only one who can breathe an element!"

"You will be able to harness your element soon," Gaul growled, watching. "Even though Earth dragons are the last to get that power, you have your strength to make up for it."

_Unfair! _Toxik's words rang in my head, and suddenly I had an idea. I bounded over so that I was standing next to Toxik, and beckoned Tornado with my tail, too. Fyre was so busy crooning over her victory that she didn't notice the three of us whispering together. Finally, she saw that we weren't chasing her anymore, and looked over. "What's up?" she asked. "Don't you want to play anymore?"

Her question was soon answered when all three of us charged at her, howling battle cries. Tornado rushed over to her and grabbed her by the tail so that she couldn't escape, and when Toxik reached her he leapt at her and crushed her under his weight. Whilst she was being held down by Tornado and Toxik I snatched the meat off of her. Only once I was a fair distance away did they let her up. Her tail lashed angrily. "Unfair!" she hissed.

"Who said you had to play fair?" Toxik teased, his eyes glittering with amusement.

"Quite right, Toxik," growled a voice, but it wasn't Gaul's. The three of us turned to see a purple dragon walking into the cave. My wings flared anxiously. _The Dark Master! _"To gain power, sometimes you cannot play fair. You must play dirty to achieve it, and it only comes to those who try and deserve it."

He raised his head, and Gaul hissed, "Bow down, you four." Immediately, we crouched down submissively. Gaul had told us to respect him, and that there would be trouble if we didn't.

The purple dragon's chilling amber gaze swept across us, and finally rested on me. I hoped that he couldn't hear it – fear was a sign of weakness in the powerful dragon's eyes – but my heart was beating so loud under my scales it seemed as if it were the only noise in the world. His eyes glinted with interest when he saw that I was holding the meat. "Now, Cynder, what are you going to do with that meat?" he rumbled, his eyes seeming to burn through my scales. "Are you going to share the meat with Toxik and Tornado because they helped you to get it, or are you going to keep it for yourself?"

"K-Keep it for myself?" I stuttered, the beat of my heart seeming so loud that everyone in the cave must have heard it.

The Dark Master's lips drew back in the beginnings of a snarl, and I wondered if I had said the wrong thing. I heard a sharp intake of breath from Tornado who was closest to me, and Gaul's eyes glittered with both anger and fear for me. Instantly, I realised my mistake. "Master," I finished quickly.

His snarl faded, but his amber eyes remained narrowed. I hoped that nobody in the cave could detect my fear-scent. "Your daring spirit will become useful one day…" he muttered, before straightening up. "Very well - I shall take my leave now. There are things in the realms that I need to see to… Gather up a band of suitable apes, Gaul, and I will depart soon. And…" His gaze raked us once again, but it seemed to rest on me for the longest. "…make sure that their skills are sharp. Soon it will be time for then to begin to explore some of the outside world."

Toxik's tail lashed excitedly and Tornado kneaded the ground just as eagerly. Fyre's eyes glittered with excitement, but Gaul's were gleaming with rage. As soon as the Dark Master had left the cave, Gaul let out a vicious cry and pounced on me, pinning me down with a huge, ape-like hand. "Dreadwing-dung!" he spat at me, his eyes that had previously shown fear for me now brimming with rage.

I writhed and squirmed, trying to wriggle free of his grasp. "Let me go!" I squealed. He ignored me – well, I suppose that he _didn't _ignore me, because my words only made him press his hand down on me. It didn't hurt that much, but I could barely breathe, and it felt as if all the life were being squeezed away from me…

"How many times have I told you to respect the Dark Master?" he snarled angrily at me. "Or do my words fly right over that dumb little head of yours like a dragonfly? Because if it does, _dragon, _then you might as well give up trying to become the Dark Master's apprentice!"

"I'm sorry!" I yelped, more out if fear than any true loyalty. "I _do _want to become the Dark Master's apprentice!" I pushed against his hand with my forepaws and scrabbled against the cold stone ground with my hind paws, but he still didn't budge. Instead, the ape leaned so close to me I could see the vein of anger throbbing on his forehead and smell his rancid breath.

"Prove it," he hissed.

"How?" was all I could squeak.

Suddenly, his fingers curled back in he dug his long, dirty, claw-like nails into my purple, hatchling-soft underbelly. I let out a squeal of pain, the agony taking me by surprise and making the blood that wasn't flowing out of me flame. My head whipped forwards, as far as it could go, and I sunk my small, sharp teeth into his hand. I slashed his hand with thorn-sharp claws, and then tried to slit it with the silver blade on the tip of my tail. I knew that I had made him bleed, but if it had hurt him, he didn't react to it. The ape was intent on making me suffer first.

Eventually I gave up, and collapsed onto the ground, my sides heaving as I fought for breath. My head turned to the side and I silently pleaded Fyre, Toxik and Tornado for help, but they could only watch in horror as I lay bleeding. Finally, I had to turn my head back to Gaul, and he met my gaze with furious eyes.

"Beg," he hissed to me, too low for the others to hear. "If you want to become the Dark Master's apprentice, you will have to be able to deal with pain. Beg for pain, dragon, and I might consider you worthy enough to live."

Memories flashed through my mind for a heartbeat, and I recalled Gaul saying the very same words to an ape. Fyre, Toxik, Tornado and I had watched Gaul kill apes before, and when we asked why he told us that it was because they had failed, and were too cowardly to serve the Dark Master…too cowardly to live, even. He told us not to care about them, because they were nothing but scavengers who wanted to serve the Dark Master for his power only…and so we didn't. But now…now I knew what it felt like to be an ape, about to be killed in the hands of Gaul.

"Give me pain," I growled reluctantly, shutting my eyes and bracing myself for the impact.

I could hear the ape's breath tickle my ear. "Louder."

"Give me pain!" I yowled, agony making me give in to him. "Make my blood flow! I want to be the Dark Master's apprentice, so I can deal with it!"

I opened my eyes a slit to see his ugly snarl twist into a grin. "Good," he said, removing his nails from my underbelly. I rolled onto my side, feeling my blood soak the cold stone floor where I lay sprawled out on it. I could hear Gaul telling the others, "Let that be a lesson to all of you. If you want to become the Dark Master's apprentice and have a share of his power, then you will have to be able to deal with pain."

Injured as I was, I couldn't help wondering what Gaul had meant when he said, _'Have a share of his power'_. I closed my narrowed eyes, and thoughts raced through my mind – I as a large, adult dragoness, flying through the night sky with scales that blended in with the darkness, a cool, smooth crystal held in my paws… Breathing not ice, but fire like Fyre, as well as many different elements, and feeling its fiery hotness burn the sides of my mouth… And then back to a hatchling again, lying on the ground, feeling pain…pain much like this, but worse…looking up through eyes narrowed with pain, awaiting my death…

"Disciple." Gaul's familiar growl broke into my thoughts. I could feel Gaul's hand wrapping around my small, frail and broken body, grasping me like he had done when I was in my egg and like he had done just now… "Take this hatchling, and heal her wounds. She'll be of no use to us if she's injured."

I could faintly remember that a disciple was an ape that could not only fight but heal wounds, but I was too tired to think about anything else. The only thing I could see, hear, feel, taste and smell was blood, and I hardly noticed it when Gaul picked me up and flung me across the cave, and when I hit the wall with a sickening thud. I was picked up again, but I no longer cared who it was that was holding me. I felt a fresh wave of hate for Gaul, and I promised myself that, one day, I would inflict on him the pain he inflicted on me. Then, a black wave seemed to overcome me, and I welcomed it with open wings.

**Longer, yay! Heh, you didn't think Gaul was all nice and everything, did you? Well, as you can see, he isn't!**

**Review please, otherwise Cynder will bite your fingers off! Mwahahaha! Until I update…see ya!**

**~Scarlett**


	3. Escape!

**Hiya!**

**I usually only write about two chapters of a story and then get bored of it nowadays, but I know you guys want moar chapterz… *eyes you suspiciously***

**Anyways! In this part the guys get a taste of the outside world…well, not all of them do…**

**Read to find out!**

Chapter 3

I awoke to a sharp pain in my belly. My brief moment of pain was forgotten, however, when I saw that I was in an unknown cave. All around me I could hear the heavy breathing and snores of sleeping apes. Confusion flitted in my mind like a dragonfly. _Why aren't I in the Sleeping-Cave? _I wailed inside. _Where are Fyre and Toxik and Tornado? Why am I sleeping near the apes? I'm not an ape!_

I looked around, then winced and recoiled as the pain came again, but sharper. And then I remembered – Gaul had attacked me because I had made a mistake, and injured me. I could vaguely remember him tossing me to a Disciple, an ape in the Dark Army with the ability to heal wounds. Gritting my teeth to endure the pain – _"If you are to become the Dark Master's apprentice, you will have to be able to deal with pain," _I recalled Gaul saying – I twisted around to look across the room. Indeed, the apes here were scarred, bloody or bandaged in leaves. _I must be in the den of the injured._

Recalling Gaul's words once again, I tried to rise to my paws. _If Gaul sees that I'm fine even though I'm wounded, then _that'll _show him I can deal with pain! _Yet my legs seemed to be unable to support my weight, and with a grunt I collapsed.

"Lay still, dragon," a gruff voice grunted.

I jumped and looked around – stifling another yelp of agony – to see a figure emerge from the shadows. He was a large ape – larger than many of the smaller apes in the cave – and unlike any other apes I had seen, his fur was an unusual, pale and sickly green. In his hand was a staff, and I supposed that he wielded magic from it. I mean, it would take a lot of training to be able to heal _and _fight. I was a dragon, a creature much more physically and mentally capable than an ape, and even though Gaul said I was smart I still couldn't fight properly.

"You're wounded," he growled to me, "which is why you are sleeping in this cave tonight. They've managed to stop bleeding, but if you carry on moving around then your wounds will open. Not that I care about your sake, of course," he added.

"Then let me go," I sulked. "I want to be the Dark Master's apprentice. I can deal with pain."

"You may be a dragon – and a pathetic, mud-brained dragon at that - but I only take orders from Gaul. Now, go to sleep and if your wounds are any better by dawn then you might be able to get out of here." And with that the ape walked away.

Bored, I gazed absent-mindedly around. I was exhausted somewhat, but not tired. With a sigh, I thought about how the others would be settling down to sleep now. It wasn't the same, not sleeping next to the other hatchlings…I missed the feeling of warmth next to me as I settled down to sleep. The only thing I could embrace was a cold loneliness. Letting out yet another sigh, I closed my eyes.

*

I opened my eyes just a little and looked around. I was still in the den of the injured, but quite a few apes were missing, and the disciple was asleep, so I figured that I must have been asleep for a day or more. My first 'fight' had made me more tired than a hatchling could cope with, so I wouldn't be surprised if I had. Then I looked down at my injuries.

My wounds looked a lot better. I felt a strange sort of pride well up inside me as I gazed at the ten small slashes on my purple underbelly. _They're not going to go away overnight, _I thought, _and it'll look like I've fought in a battle or something. _My back was still sore, however, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I let my sight drift absent-mindedly around the cave…and that was when I saw the exit.

I felt a sort of pull to the exit. I tried to look away, but I couldn't stop my green eyes flickering towards it every now and then. The only other thing that my eyes strayed to was the apes around me – they were sleeping. All were snoring – except for the disciple – and I kept on thinking of how easy it would be to creep out of the cave and explore…

_No. _I scratched the wounds on my underbelly to punish myself. No, I couldn't escape. I mean, I _could _– but I wasn't allowed to. The disciple had clearly instructed me to stay here.

But another part of me was telling me to go. After all, I was a dragon, and much more important to Gaul than any lousy apes. One day I would be one of the most powerful dragons in the realms, and I could do anything I wanted to. Plus, nobody said that I had to _obey _the disciple. I was to obey Gaul and the Dark Master, and no-one else.

I stared at the exit again.

I made up my mind.

I was going to escape.

I slithered around the apes as smooth as a snake. Nobody would be able to hear me over the dumb apes' snoring, and my blue scales blended in with the darkness. The disciple grunted in his sleep as I passed, but other than that, no ape stirred. I felt like rearing on my hind-legs and yowling in triumph. But I wasn't fully out of the den yet. Casting one, slightly smug look back at the sleeping apes, I vanished into the hole on the cave wall.

It led into a tunnel. I was used to the darkness, but still…I didn't like it. I had to use my tail to feel my way around, and I could feel my steps intensify as did my heartbeat as the darkness seemed to swallow me up. Pretty soon I was running for what felt like my life, my breaths coming in loud, terrified pants. Only when I emerged into a familiar room did I relax.

It wasn't the usual play-area, but I'd been in here before. There were a few tunnels on the cave wall, and I sniffed them all before disappearing into one. I hoped that it was the right one…because if I got lost, then I was ape-food.

I felt the same scary sensation again, but a burst of satisfaction quickly made up for it when I saw that I had emerged in the Sleeping-Cave. Fyre, Toxik and Tornado were all sound asleep, curled into balls with their tails touching their noses. I felt a jab of envy at how close they were sleeping together. I should be there. There should be four of us.

I padded up to them, trying to blend into the shadows and not make any noise. Tornado twitched in his sleep, but no-one heard me. My green eyes raked the three, figuring out which one I should pounce on. _I want to get Toxik, but he has a lot of physical strength so he could easily push me off, _I calculated. _Fyre has pretty much the same strength as me, but she can breathe fire, so if I spring at her she's singe me. _Then my eyes rested on Tornado. _He's quite skinny, and isn't very strong. He's really quick, but he won't be able to run once I'm on top of him._

I crouched down as flat as I could go, with only my tail and hindquarters up. Then I let out a triumphant yowl and pouched onto Tornado.

His blue eyes shot open and his jaws opened in a shriek. "Atta-" he began to yell, but I silenced him by holding down his throat with a paw. But he had woken the others, and they all glanced frantically around, trying to see who was attacking them.

But I was in the shadows. They couldn't see me. "Guys!" I hissed, stepping out of the shadows. "It's me!"

Tornado struggled a bit more, before his eyes went wide in disbelief. "Cynder!" he squeaked, his voice muffled under my paw. I removed it to let him speak, but signalled to him with my tail to keep his voice down. "Cynder," he hissed, "where have you _been_?"

"You've been missing for _days!" _Fyre added, padding up next to Tornado.

"And you missed the day when we went outside!" Toxik chipped in. "We wished that you'd been there! It was _amazing! _We went down the mountain and into another cave, and Gaul took us all through the fortress! There were all these apes and other creatures standing guard – but they just nodded and let us pass! There were lots of traps to fool any intruders, but Gaul taught us all of them and now we know what they are. Oh, and there was this _huge _statue of the Dark Master that was surrounded by small flames – the golden ones that Fyre breathes."

"We got to go outside!" the red hatchling said. "Well, we only went around the mountain, but Gaul says that next time we'll be going even further!"

"And it was _snowing!" _Tornado burst out excitedly. "Oh – of course, you wouldn't know what snow is," he added hastily. "They're these tiny white flakes that fall from the sky!"

"And they're _cold!" _Fyre said, covering herself with her wings.

"And…"

_I know what snow is, thanks, _I thought bitterly, not listening to Toxik as he babbled on some more about the world outside the caves. Sadness seemed to well up inside me. Gaul had taken the others outside, as the Dark Master said that he would, and I had been trapped in a horrible, tiny cave with a bunch of injured apes. I was supposed to be there _now, _and a part of me wished that I hadn't escaped. I didn't want to hear all the others' adventures.

Then my sadness turned to a fiery anger. _Gaul _had taken the others out, I reflected. And he had deliberately taken them out when _I _was in the den of the injured! My tail lashed furiously. _I'll show you one day, _I thought. _I'll let you know that you're like the rest of the Dark Army – a smelly, mangy ape._

"…and…Cynder?"

I looked up to see Toxik looking at me, his brown eyes deep pools of hurt. I instantly felt sorry for him. After all, it wasn't _his _fault that Gaul was such an ape-brain. We would all go out together one day – hopefully.

And that was when an idea started forming in my mind. Fyre was the best at element control, Tornado was fastest and Toxik was the strongest, but nobody could best me when it came to brains. I was the smartest out of all of them, and I prided myself on that.

"We're going out!" I declared, standing tall and flaring my wings to make myself look big.

They stared at me in disbelief. _"What?"_

"We're going out," I repeated, grinning inwardly at their dumbfounded expressions. The Dark Master was right – I was the most daring dragon of them all.

"But…but you _can't!" _Toxik protested. "You've already made angered Gaul once!" _Twice, _I thought, _when he finds out that I've sneaked away from the den of the injured. _"Do you really want to anger him again?"

He looked at me seriously. I met his gaze coolly. "He won't find out, if we're quick."

"And if we're not?" Fyre snapped. She, out of all of us, had the shortest temper. I turned my green eyes to her. "If we're caught, then it won't be just you that gets into trouble – it will be all of us! And why? Because _you _angered Gaul and missed the exploration!"

Anger flared inside me. Fyre could get hot-headed at times, but so could I! "If you know the place as well as you guys boast that you do, then we'll be back before they realise we're gone!"

Tornado looked thoughtful. He was the swiftest of us, and so was less fazed about time and speed. "Fyre is right," he said at last. "You'd be risking the safety of all of us. But…" He narrowed his eyes. "If nobody's watching us, then we can do whatever we like. We can go places that Gaul didn't let us enter!"

"Yeah!" Toxik, who had been more hesitant, looked like he was warming to the idea now. "And it's not like we're going to be missed, is it? We're only hatchlings – what use are we of to Gaul at the moment?"

"Exactly!" I burst out, before looking at Fyre.

Her eyes were narrowed, and her tail lashed angrily. She didn't want to go – I could tell that – but she wouldn't stay here on her own and lie to Gaul when he asked her where we were. She gritted her teeth, but growled, "Fine."

"Then let's go!" I yowled, instinctively slipping into the shadows. I had managed to find my way here from an unknown place, so I assumed that the others trusted my nose enough to let me lead the way. The others kept a lookout whilst I figured out where we had to go, and I could feel them – even Fyre – trembling in anticipation when we reached the right cave.

Tornado nudged me and pointed with his muzzle at the ceiling. "It's right up there."

A hole gaped at the top of the large cave. Moonlight filtered through, and I knew that we had a good bit of time left before dawn would come. Large rocks circled the cave, and the others followed as I hopped up them. Then the hole gaped wide above me now. Taking a deep breath, and flapping my puny wings for support, I jumped up, gripped the edge with thorn-sharp claws, and clambered out into the open.

**A little boring, I know…but it'll be better next chapter! Hopefully…**

**And thank you for the reviews! You guys are awesome. But I need moar reviews…*stretches out to press review button, but can't quite reach it* Nope! Only you guys can push it! PLEASE PUSH IT! It feels lonely…**

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**See you chickens later!**

**~Scarlett**


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